Theran
Therans are a highly advanced species that live predominately underground in Thera and Lycia. These hardy creatures, commonly know as dwarfs, are well known for their expertise of geological materials and metal working. While being tougher and more resilient than humans they tend to find the company of humans very pleasing to be around and are found in most human civilisations. Their greedy and individualist natures go surprisingly well with human curiosity and ambition and the two species have a long history of shared cultures and traditions. Culture Therans tend to be miners. They have a natural fascination with minerals and feel more comfortable underground. They are also superb at developing and constructing machinery, and are masters at creating new weaponry and armour. Most Therans attempt to project greater machismo and status by carrying more and larger weapons or tools, and wearing heavier and more elaborate armour than standard. This is known as "clang". Clang is deeply imbedded in all Theran culture making their society anarchistic and individualistic. Decisions are made and information is spread by different groups of miners exchanging representatives. This pattern continues all the way up until you get to the closest thing to a leader, the low king. All Therans owe allegiance to the Low King, who is selected by a national council of appointed representatives. The kings only real purpose is to act as a final court of appeal in disputes that other wise would never get resolved. Therans have similar cuisine to that of humans, but tend to favour red meat and wheat products, the most desirable of which is beer. Like humans they are omnivorous, but do have much stronger stomachs and are more resistant to poisons and food poisoning. Theran cuisine is often basic and to the point, cooked on open fire or grills. When Therans are married, it is customary for the debts to their parents consisting of all the money spent on them before they married, such as for food and lodgings to be paid off by their partner. Theran society has no religion, but does have strong culture of superstition and folklore. In place of gods and demons, they do have several dozen different words for "dark". Many of these are highly mystical and dangerous, such as the "closing dark," the "calling dark" and the "waiting dark" (the dark that waits to fill new holes). Worst of all is the "Summoning dark", which is said to have a mind of its own and to seek out and corrupt certain victims susceptible to it. These "Darks" are born from the Therans who first broke though into the underdark, and were said to have unleashed a darkness that devoured their nation. In their ancient folklore the dark can only be defeated by The Minesign of the Guarding Dark. However, the folklore says that the Guarding Dark does not keep the darkness out, it keeps it in. Because of this Therans are extremely careful not to erase or damage any minesigns they come across. A "Minesign" is how they traditionally convey their feelings to other Therans, they can be scratched or drawn on any available surface, and generally refer to the different kinds of dark. They are described as an unofficial ballot, voting by graffiti, to show your view on what is going on in your mine. There are many signs, and presumably they can convey a range of ideas. One basic minesign is the Long Dark, which merely announces the presence of a mine. It is a circle with a single horizontal line through it. The minesign for the Following Dark is a circle with two parallel diagonal lines slashed through it, making it resemble a No symbol. This is not a good sign, and can result in engineers in a mine sitting surrounded by candles and insense. It translates as "we await what follows with dread", or, more loosely, "Repent, ye sinners!". The minesign for the Summoning Dark is one small circle enclosed by a larger circle with a tail - or an "eyeball with a tail". Therans believe that inscribing it is like a curse that brings the Summoning Dark down on the area. Theran lore holds that it is very dangerous to leave any of these in the dark. Biology Short bipedal bearded primates, Therans are a warm-blooded humanoid species adapted to living underground. They have a very similar build to humans but are much shorter and have a larger muscle density making them much stronger and tougher. Their skin is thick and tough making them resistant to bruising and grazes and their sort sizes allows them to conserve water and live off stored fat a little longer than humans. The average Theran life span varies between 30 to 80 years. They have two sexes, the female of the species is fertile once a month after she reached puberty until the onset of a biochemical stage known as menopause. Theran gestation takes between eleven to twelve months, normally producing one or two infants. Therans are very augmentative and stubborn, but can be easily persuaded with the right incentive, usually wealth or something rare and unusual. Therans share a lot in common with humans, have have similar emotions and cultural ambitions. Therans have iron-based hemoglobin in their blood, similar to humans. Each individual's blood could be one of several blood types, which included all humans types with the addition of D-negative and D-positive. Nations Trivia ((Trivia on what the species was based on)) Category:Species